Rajasthan High Court Grants Bail To Husband Noting That His Extra-Marital Affair Would 'Per Se' Not Attract Abetment Of Wife's Suicide

While granting bail to a man accused of abetting his wife's suicide, the Rajasthan High Court recently observed that solely because a husband was involved in an extra-marital relationship and there was some suspicion in the wife's mind, cannot be regarded as abetment under Section 306 IPC. 

After considering the facts of the case, a single judge bench of Justice Rajendra Prakash Soni said, "This Court is of the opinion that no doubt there is some evidence about the illicit relationship of husband of deceased but in the absence of some other acceptable prima facie evidence on record, the ingredients of Section 306 of the IPC, which includes abetment to drive a woman to commit suicide, could not be found prima facie satisfied. 

It added,

Extra-marital relationship, per se or as such, would not come within the ambit of abetment. To explicate, solely because the husband is involved in an extra-marital relationship and there is some suspicion in the mind of wife, that cannot be regarded as abetment for satisfying the ingredients of Section 306 IPC.The seed of suspicion planted in mind of deceased brought the eventual tragedy but such an event will not prima facie constitute the offence alleged.Therefore, petitioner makes a case for bail.”

The order was passed in the husband's bail plea, after his father in law (complainant) lodged a report that after his daughter married the accused in 2014, she was subjected harassment, beaten up and mistreated by her in-laws and husband.

It was alleged that the husband was an alcoholic who was involved in an illicit relationship with another woman and it was this extra-marital affair of the accused. It was alleged that in April, the husband's brother called the complainant father informing him that his daughter had committed suicide.

The complainant claimed that when he arrived at his daughter in-laws' house, he suspected that she had been murdered and that the scene had been staged to appear as a suicide. 

The counsel for the accused-applicant argued that the suicide was committed by the wife out of her own free will, 10 years after marriage, and there was no evidence to suggest that the applicant actively abetted her to commit suicide.

The court after perusing through the record said, that it prima facie revealed, that the complainant father of the deceased in his statements had not stated anything regarding any kind of abetment meted out to the deceased, except stating that since his daughter's marriage, her husband had been "harassing and beating" her.

"Except for the alleged extra marital relationship that may be illegal and immoral, nothing has been brought out by the prosecution to show that the petitioner had provoked, incited or induced the wife to commit suicide," the court said. 

Noting that the accused was not involved in any other matter, the factum of the trial taking time, the high court without going into the merits, granted bail to the husband. 

Case Title: Meghraj v State of Rajasthan

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 266

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